Alabama
Alabama, located in the South, is home to nearly 10,000 same-sex couples. From 1990 to 2006, the number of same-sex couples in Alabama increased by 897%, one of the largest state increases in the United States. Even though so many same-sex couples are living and coming out in Alabama, in 2006 Alabama voters approved an anti-marriage and anti-relationship recognition discriminatory constitutional amendment. State advocacy groups continue to work towards repealing marriage and relationship recognition discrimination and gaining the freedom to marry for the citizens of Alabama.
WHERE YOU CAN GO TO GET INVOLVED OR LEARN MORE:
Equality Alabama
Equality Alabama's mission is to advance full equality and civil rights for all the people of Alabama through education and action. Equality Alabama was formed by a group of concerned citizens who agreed to merge the efforts of GALAA, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama, EBaH, Equality Begins at Home of Central Alabama and various private citizens who became concerned with the anti-gay rhetoric from Alabama's increasingly conservative politicians.
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LEGISLATIVE STATUS IN ALABAMA:
Your Community—Alabama
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
HRC presents resources, news, and the current marriage and
relationship recognition laws in each state.
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PUBLICATIONS:
Alabama Census Snapshot
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in Alabama.
Geographic Trends Among Same-Sex Couples in the U.S. Census and the
American Community Survey
Williams Institute
November 2007
Gary Gates at the Williams Institute released groundbreaking research
on the geographic trends among same-sex couples. The report finds the
biggest increases in Southern and Mountain states and states barring
legal acceptance of same-sex couples had larger percentage increases
in same-sex couples from 2000 to 2006.
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NEWS:
EDITORIAL: Marriage goes beyond the ballot
The Boston Globe
November 9, 2006
To those who would argue that the people should decide this issue by vote, I also value and defend the right to vote. Generations of my African-American brothers and sisters in the United States — and my own ancestors in Haiti — died for the right to vote. However, I know too that there are some issues that should never be decided by a majority. The abolition of slavery and the right for women and blacks to vote are but a few examples.
Charles Barkley runs for Gov, supports marriage equality
365Gay.com
August 31, 2006
Charles Barkley was his usual outspoken self during a recent television interview in which he said, among other things, that he advocates marriage equality.
OP-ED: Hope not lost for gay Alabamians: Struggle for equality will continue
The Anniston Star
June 4, 2006
"I am hopeful because for every hateful, misguided, naive word uttered about gay people by anti-gay extremists, there are more and more fair-minded Alabamians coming to understand the desire of the gay community to love and to live that love in freedom."
Gay acceptance growing deep in Dixie
365Gay.com
May 19, 2006
"What Americans see increasingly is there's no negative impact on their own lives to have gays and lesbians living out in the open," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "They go from an abstract idea to a real person with a real name and a real story. That makes all the difference."
Federal DOMA bars FEMA from providing hurricane relief to same-sex couples
365Gay.com
September 1, 2005
Same-sex couples suffering from hurricane Katrina's destruction are being denied any relief in the form of family benefits, because the federal so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" and the states's exclusion of gay couples from marriage prevent FEMA from providing it. Additionally, Louisiana has a constitutional amendment discriminating against same-sex couples that also prevents the state from recognizing any legal status for domestic partnerships or civil unions. Mississippi and Alabama also discriminate — through anti-gay measures adopted while government officials neglected work that might have saved lives.
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Williams Institute
December 2007
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in Alabama.
Read families’ stories about how marriage discrimination affects everyday life. These stories communicate, in concrete ways, how the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage hurts families and helps no one.
Start in The Marriage Basics to get short answers to your big questions about the freedom to marry, and learn more about the protections and responsibilities of marriage, the historical background for this civil rights movement, why separate is not equal, and so much more.
